'Fetish things' have destroyed some Super Eagles players - Former defender alleges

Former Super Eagles defender, Chidi Nwanu in a recent interview claims that some players of the Super Eagles perform fetish activities before going into football matches.

Nwanu, a member of the 1994 squad that represented Nigeria at the FIFA World Cup and the 1988 Summer Olympic said a "team that has all these fetish things will not do well."

Speaking to Vanguard, he said: "I am in ministry. That is why I said, a team that has all these fetish things will not do well. And that is what some players do and they have destroyed a lot of talents.

"Nigeria needs to look into; moral discipline and moral behaviour. If you look at the way we carry ourselves and project ourselves here, there is a lot of difference between us and our European counterparts. The Europeans play with all their hearts, but we take it easy as if there is nothing at stake," he told Vanguard.

Nwanu, who won 20 caps as a player also featured prominent for Enyimba of Aba in the 1980's.

According to the 53-year-old evangelist, he won't venture into coaching if he gets a call-up by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). He said his contribution to the team will be through player motivation.

"I have always answered this question in a particular way. To be a coach is not the only way you can help a team to succeed. There are many other ways. Like in Europe here, they have motivational speakers to stir up their spirits.

"The one that is emotionally down, maybe he finds himself not playing well, he goes through that process in order to get well. Somebody can be in the technical team, helping the coach to select players in their various positions. If you look at some teams today, they seem to have players who play in the same position but scattered in different positions, he told Vanguard.

"When you do that, you can’t have a strong team. One can help the national team in the area of fitness, welfare, disciplinary aspect because some players could be better players if they were disciplined, etc. Sometimes it could be bad lifestyles and you help them.”

After stints with several lower division club sides in Belgium, Nwanu was bought by giants R.S.C. Anderlecht, who won the league twice during his stay.